There are any lings we don't understand. U.F.Os for one. And Leylines For another. Leylines, where they cross over, or touch the sea can create a glitch enabling to jump into Nyx; a reality created by the Goddess.

Grim sat in the restricted section of The Great Nyxian Library. He was trying to read about curses, but the words seemed to flicker in and out of focus. It could be the pain going to his head, or it could be the damn book. He couldn't tell which. Blood pounded in his ears as a trickle of blood ran down his neck. He was under strict instructions not to bleed on the books. Especially ones in the restricted section. It was hopeless. Nyxia herself had told him the curse was never going to be undone. It was impossible, funnily enough it had been easy enough to cast. Miss "I'll just make sure our little betrayer friend lives forever in constant agony." He'd deserved some of this curse, if not all for the hundreds of sins that had spread much pain over Nyx. He'd mindlessly slaughtered thousands, he had been Pollux's right hand Quetzal. The unfeeling dark assistant, or so they thought. He wished he hadn't done what he had, the pain was part of it. The look of pain in Nyxia's eyes was quite another. They had been lover's originally. 'Till he'd changed sides brought over by the promise of false hope, he'd been won over by Pollux's vision until the moment he'd lay dieing, betrayed by his master. Grim wasn't a bad soul, not anymore. But he was forced to live with the pain of the thousands he had killed and injured everyday. It wasn't any fun.

Mousen had helped. He was her guardian, he was her assigned protector, not in blood but magic. It was a rare thing, to become a guardian, some of the most powerful beings in history had a guardian behind them, though alot of dead, unimportant people also had guardians. It seemed to be completely random. Grim was a good match for Mouse, where she was lud, brash and violent. He was calm and often stopped the havoc she enjoyed causing. But now he felt bad for snapping at her. It had been a painful day, more painful than most and she'd only been trying to help. But trying to make Nyxia see the error she made in cursing him wasn't a good idea. It made the bad days, much, much worse. Grim ran a hand through his blood matted black hair, his skin had a slight greyish tone. He looked very, very dead. Wounds, scars, bruises ran up his arms, across his face, they looked even worse when not hidden by the black cloak he wore in his human form. His pink, eyes attempted to scan the words again, only to fail when they slid out of focus. He sat of the floor of the restricted section, the dark wood slightly stain with the blood that constantly dripped off him.

Zalmon slipped into the Library, wanting to find a certain book about her 'hobby', hunting. She needed the backstory on a few rare species that she hoped to look for later. She knew where the books were: The restricted section. She also knew already that the Librarian wouldn't allow her in; that much was certain. Zal had tried before, and was very rudely kicked out. She quietly slipped past the desk and into the restricted section. "No... no... no... Where is it?" she mumbled to herself as she scrolled the shelves. When she came to the end of the isle, Zal turned down the next. "AH!" she yelled, nearly jumping out of her scales. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting- Are you okay?" She asked. Zal had stumbled across a rather sad looking Bloodwine Quetzal who also seemed to be bleeding amung other injuries.

"I'm not bleeding on the book- Oh." Grim was slightly surprised to see another quetzal, here he'd have expected an irate shapeshifter. But not another quetzal. "Fine, just dandy." He mumbled slightly sour. Grim sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't take anything out on you. It's not your fault." He winced as a bolt pain shot down his spine. He'd have thought in so many years, he'd have gotten used to it. But each day seemed to bring new torture. It wasn't even like he didn't deserve everything he got and more. He was forced to live the pain he had inflicted on others, day after day. He was immortal. That didn't help. Not that he'd ever get anywhere, not with the things he'd done.

Grim sighed again, his unnerving pink eyes half closed. "Oh, I'm Grim, by the way." He couldn't help but smile slightly. Terrifying people with the fact he was Grim, Grim the betrayer. Pollux's right hand man never got old. Though he must admit, he did still wish he had still been, Just Grim, a gifted dark elemental with alot of charm and an insightful attitude.

"It's okay," Zal said. "Grim? Well that's an... I-Interesting name." Zal added, stuttering a little near the end. Yes, she had heard the story, but was dead scared to say much more about it. If this was Grim, THE Grim, then Zal was sure he wouldn't take lightly to her questioning it. But... What are the odds? I could never be... 'lucky' enough to meet an immortal. But he does look a great deal like the description... when Zal was younger, she had heard the story about the poor Quetzal. Back then it was just a legend to her, but after reading more about it, she concluded that it might be true. Might. She still shuddered at the thought that the Quetzal before her could have harmed all those people..."I'd better continue looking for the book I need. It's nice meeting you." She quickly continued her search for the book, but it didn't help her get farther away from him. Zal just found it a few feet away, and she had no choice but to sit there and read it. She certainly couldn't sneak it out, and it might look wierd if she took it to another isle just to read it. So, she sighed and took it off the shelf with difficulty since it was very heavy and started flipping pages.

Grim sighed slightly, the slight sound of sadness inaudible to most ears. Even teasing the normal population of Nyx had lost it's fun. He just felt guilty, the spasm of guilt was much worse than the pain at the time. It could have been part of her family, he'd been ordered to "be rid of" After all the realm hadn't been peaceful for so many years. It was about thirty now? He could never remember. But even though she herself couldn't be old enough to have been there personally, her parents could of... He swallowed,trying to think back into the bloody days that had tried so hard to forget any quetzals with her colouring...

He swallowed suddenly, shaking his head slowly. He couldn't go back there, no way. He could manage everything else, but that. The constant pain was enough of a reminder without thinking about it. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it. "I-" He broke off again. "I wish I hadn't." He said simply. It was a resigned confirmation. The pain in his eyes told the truth. It was mental pain. Not physical.

Hearing Grim speak made Zal automatically feel guilty herself. "I'm sorry. It's alright..." she said sympathetically. She now had no doubt that this was the creature of the stories. She had no parents to tell her about him, but when she heard the story, it was told as if it were a legend. Even if Grim was as evil as was told, he obviously felt bad about it.

Zal flinched when she cast a glance at the bruises and blood on Grim. She wished she could do something to help...

Grim smiled wryly, it wasn't really a smile, just a bad impersonation of one. "I deserve everything that got threw at my by Nyxia. To be honest I deserved more. She could have slipped by into the realm of halves, The realm between life and death. A torture beyond words. Did it ever get woven into the stories how close we were? Or was I always the evil, against the incorruptible Nyxia Noir." He sneered slightly for a moment looking like the very person that had murdered many hundreds of innocent people. His expression changed suddenly. He looked more vulnerable than before. More hesitant to say anything, he pulled up the hood on his cloak, it didn't look sinister. He just looked rather sad and desolate.

"I apologise. I guess my decision still pains me." He wished he could have gone back over. He may have died, but from where he was now, death seemed like an easy option. It wasn't the curse, if Nyxia had offered to remove it he wouldn't have took it. He deserved pain and suffering. He just wouldn't have betrayed her. Or Gienah, or Denab, or even Polaris. He frowned as he remembered his last meeting with the fabled prince. It had not gone well. The boy seemed very protective of everyone around him, Nyxia included.

The prince couldn't have twigged on his "history" with the goddess though? He may have. There was one thing to avoid in conversation.

"Well no... I didn't know that. I wish I could hear your part of the story, but I don't want to put you in an akward position."Immediately after she had spoken, Zal wished she hadn't. She didn't want to bring back bad memories for Grim. Her eyes wandered to the books open infront of Grim and felt the immeadiate urge to ask what they were about. She decided she had already run her mouth too much, though, so she kept it shut.

Grim looked at her questioningly as if testing her. "It was a strange time when all this arose. Pollux seemingly dead, you remember the story from before then? There's a sketchy history in the encyclopaedia somewhere. They conveniently erased me from their version. But I digress. Nyx was recovering after a long, hard time. They was a new child in the royals. Polaris, his name was, he was two-three I think and he hated sleeping outside, like I said he was sleeping outside, trying to cope with his fist gift a gift Nyxia had bestowed on him. He could see upcoming events, I don't think he saw this one, he was struck by the stars, I'm not quite sure how or what happened. But he gained a blue marking on his thigh and legs, similar to appaloosa, you may call it. The time in Nyx, it doesn't pass... quite right due to the glitch, one day can last a week and so on. Me and Nyxia... were I suppose you could say we were in... love... I could tell she was slowing down time. Trying to make sure I did age too fast for her. I didn't mind. But the blue mark on the unicorn snapped us out of it. No-one knew what it was, where it came from. Was it a curse? A blessing? Denab, the king at the time, he still is I think set off trying to find out more, he felt like he couldn't do anything else. His battle with Pollux a few years previously had stripped him of his power. Geinah, the queen, raised the child. Just after Denab left, she discovered she was going to have another foal. But that's not important, not in my version anyway. Nyxia soon left too, she wanted to know more about the mark. It was then while the Queen was weak and her most powerful allies were gone. Pollux found a way into some ones mind. He infiltrated it, filled it with dark thoughts and slowly turned him to his side. It was a complicated enchantment. But Pollux was back, just when Nyx was unprotected and weak. He quickly removed his hold on the person's mind and named him his second hand. I say he moved it completely. Not quite. I was young and foolish, and I missed Nyxia, it had been too long in my mind. It didn't take many lies to convince me that Nyxia wasn't quite in the right. It was easier than I ever imagined collecting people for his army. I found power in it, the ones that didn't agree I killed and as the days got on, we got harder and harder to refuse. Gienah fled into the forest with her two children, deep in the forests. We couldn't find them. They built up an army of their own. Polaris had grown, he was old enough to lead the attack. It was then Nyxia and Denab returned. It was a close fight, but we lost. I remember fighting the girl. Pollux took Polaris, but Pollux was to concerned with keeping his own head to think about mine. I remember the blood, it was awful, though as I fell I took the girl's horn with me. She's never been the same since apparently. I was dying, Pollux had been banished never to return. Nyxia couldn't believe it was me. She was furious, I remember a male saying to her "let him die Nyxia, death's too kind, but he's not worth saving" She replied. "Your right. Death is too kind." I woke up almost a month later, on the Border of the Nhimn forest with a note written in blood, explaining the curse in my hand, and here I am." He said sadly, looking down at the book, if just so he wouldn't have to meet her eyes. "I'm a terrible person for the things I did. I regret them daily, but all the regret won't change the lives lost." Something dripped onto the book, blood by the look of it, no. It was too pale for blood, it must have been a tear.

"I'm sorry..." Zal said. This story was, in a few ways, different than the ones she had heard. Before this, every story aimed to make him look at horrible as possible. Hearing it from Grim himself was completely different, and even though he admitted to those murders and the story was still terrible with the killings of the people, it made Zal feel guilty for fearing him when she had not heard this side of the story and had heard a version that was surprisingly much worse. "Thank you for telling me this," she said. Her friend Alex had been the one to teach her the stories, and she would certainly get back at him for lying for about half of it.

Grim tilted his head slightly to look at her. She wasn't angry... Or running away, she was thanking him? "I-I don't think I quite understand..." He winced slightly, not from what he was saying, just the curse. He frowned as he thought it over again. "You're thanking me," He stated. "because I told you the truth?" Grim speculated. He laughed a weak laugh. "So, I must have been bad in the version you were told?"

"Well, in the other versions, people made you sound much worse. Like stuff about how you were evil from when you first hatched and Nyxia knew it... People hated you even before this happened... Dumb things like that." Zalmon said, trying to fix her mistake. It was true, Alex had been feeding her this craziness. He would never believe her that she had actually met this immortal at the library, but she wasn't about to ask for an autograph.((I know. xD))

Grim smiled wryly he'd been expecting as much. "I'm surprised they didn't add in the part of my real betray. It would have made it alot worse." He sighed slightly. "You've been fair to me, you know." He said a touch of a real smile on his face. "Most would have ran." It seemed strange, but this was his way of saying thanks. He needed some one to talk to. He was only human after all, he was Grim, the betrayer yes. But that didn't mean he wasn't a person or a quetzal. What ever he was, he needed some one that wasn't Mousen to talk to.

Zal smiled, glad she made Grim happy. "Everyone deserves to be treated well, even if they have done wrong." she said, blushing. It sounded like something a mother would say to her child.

Alex flew into the library. He didn't even have to show the woman his special pass to the restricted section; she had seen him here so many times here before. As he flew down each isle, browsing the shelves for a new book on mythology, he came across the place where Zal was. "Hey Zal." he said in a low voice. His eyes questioningly wandered to the hooded figure sitting a few feet from where they were. "Who's you're friend?" he whispered to her.

Zal looked up at Alex. "Oh, hey!" she said. Perfect timing. She looked at Grim and said, "This is my friend Alex. The one who... told me the legends." she looked back up at Alex who now had an eyebrow raised, completely clueless of whose presence he was in.

"Ah-." Grim sucked in the air between his teeth, that had hurt. The curse seemed to reach new heights every so often, he was forced to live with a certain amount of pain. A dull constant pain, he was used to that, but occasionally the curse would flare up, causing him much pain. He'd learned to live with it, nevertheless, it still hurt. Grim cast a glance at the black quetzal, his own face still obscured by his dark hood. "Don't believe everything you read." He said, pulling his hood back. His eyes were cold, both with physical and mental torment. "Grim Bartholomew Lore, at you service." He said simply. There was no smirk on his face, or any other emotion, he seemed blank, it was even more eerie than his usual frown. Grim didn't seem to notice as a drop of blood slid down his face, his blood matted hair and grey skin tone adding to the unnerving atmosphere around him.

It only took a few seconds for Alex to have Zalmon dragged halfway down the isle. He was in complete panic and was running for his life. For some reason, Zalmon didn't seem to appreciate it much. "What the hell are you doing? Let go!" she said angrily, struggling. "Ohmaigawd, Zal, he must have you in some sort of trance. Oh Nyxia, we have to get you to a medic house! Ohmaigawd, I'm never going to leave you alone again. Good Nyxia...." Alex went on with this until Zalmon was able to escape his stone grip and fly back to Grim. Alex was preparing to tackle the 'evil' Quetzal so Zalmon could save herself, but she stepped in front of Grim. "Ugh, I have never seen you act like this! Calm down! Sheesh, there is nothing wrong with Grim. He's cool."Alex's jaw dropped. "Cool?!" he said in disbelief. There was something wrong with Zal, and he knew it. "Zal, listen to me carefully. You're in danger. Terrible danger!!!" he said, trying to say it slow so she would understand.

Grim looked up in interest as Alex tried to drag Zal off. He felt a little twinge of pain at the fact most thought he was a monster. He looked as if he were about to say something but then he thought better of it. He closed his eyes for a moment an lend his head against a bookshelf. He uttered something under his breath. "For the record, Glamour* is past me now. Nyxia made sure of that." He paused for a moment. "Would you believe your history books, your mythology books are sadly lacking in many details. Like the fact I don't live one millisecond with out regret, with out guilt. With out single second of even thinking of the trouble and pain I caused! With out wishing I hadn't been so easily swayed..." Grim exclaimed. After several moments he let out a soft moan of pain. "Shouldn't do that." He muttered under his breath.

*Glamour: the enchantment, or dazzling of another creature/ the kind of magic used to do that. Often making the user of Glamour appear different to whom they really are. It is generally considered a dark magic. Though the fey use Glamour often.

Zalmon flew next to Grim and asked, "Are you alright? I'm so terribly sorry for Alex's rudeness... He's a bit hardheaded." she explained, casting a glance in Alex's direction.Alex was speechless. Just being aknowledged by such a person scared him silly. Al he could do was stand there and stutter, and try hard not to pee. "Alex, say you're sorry." Zalmon demanded.He gave her a funny look. Sorry? That's what this guy should be saying! Then again, he kinda had... It had never occured to Alex that Grim might feel guilty for what he did. "S-s-sorry..." he mumbled.

"Fine, just the curse flares up every now and again." Grim mumbled. He looked up at Alex. "I would apologise for the things I've done in my past. But last time I did that Nyxia- Well shall we leave it at the fact it was rather unpleasant?" He realized where a good portion of the mental pain was coming from. Obviously it was mainly the regret. But saying her name was pain all on it's own. "I... I shouldn't lose my temper like that, Alex. I apologise..." He seemed lost in thought.

"There's no chance of me hurting you or Zal... The mental pain being one, her curse on the other. Mousen might, She's a Heath after all. But not me..." Grim seemed to look very fragile all of a sudden. The brave face he usually put on diminishing. He almost looked vulnerable. Bone, bone thin, blood matting his hair and clothes. "I used to be crazy in love with her..." He murmured. It wasn't meant for Zal or Alex's ears infact he was speaking more to himself than anyone else.

Alex nodded and looked down. "I-I know the story. And it's okay... I trust that if you were to hurt Zal it would've already happened." he said, letting out a nervous laugh. It still scared him to be addressed by such a figure, and he wasn't used to talking to other people besides Zal, but one thing intrigued him about Grim... "I-I didn't know you loved Nyxia..." he said, blushing.Zalmon sat and watched the two, deciding that it was safe now to get out of the way of Grim. She flew back over to where her book was and started flipping pages with her tail, not really paying attention to what she was reading but instead listening to what Grim and Alex were talking about.

"We courted endlessly, she was alot younger then, she acted like it anyway. I was sure she had started to slow the ageing process down for me. I was quite enchanted by her really. You know the story of Prince Polaris, well the tiny summary that the library has to offer, the real history got burned during- well it got burned along with The Outsider's guide to Nyx. , and out main encyclopaedia. They're going to get Nyxia to right a revised version. Well, they are going to beg her." He snorted slightly. "Mousen want's me to write one, It's a silly notion. They'd burn it before I had even started." Grim sighed.

"That would be interesting... I-if you wrote one." Alex stuttered. He was still uncomfortable talking to Grim, but he couldn't just throw away the learning possibilities from talking to him. Plus, they didn't seem to be in danger at the moment...Zal cut in and nodded. "Yes, that would be interesting..." She agreed.

"It would never get published. It would be seen as a devil's bible, not a history book," Grim frowned. "I dread to think what Nyxia would do if she saw it-" He winced slightly. "This seems to suggest the curse flaring up is directly linked to her moods. I do believe Miss Nyxia Noir is feeling a tad... volatile right now." He muttered something under his breath, probably a small exclamation of pain, or something similar. "Alex, you should realize it would be impossible for me to hurt you or Zal. The guards here are more than a match for me in this state." As if to prove this a he channelled the dark element, something he hadn't done for years. It wasn't evil as most people saw it. Infact some of the purest people in the word were dark elementals. A small dark mist encircled his hand.

It was then one of the Lapis Lazuli cat statures guarding the doors to the library opened it's eyes. They were a deep ruby. It arched it's back and hissed, showing row on row of diamond tipped teeth. Grim let the mist fade before turning back to Zal and Alex. "See?"

Alex nodded. "I... okay... I trust you..." he said, not completely meaningfully, though. "Hm... it's terrible that the book would be destroyed. I swear, if people would just give you a chance..." Zal said, trailing of into a mutter near the end. Alex nodded in agreement. It was a slow and akward movement though, as if he were restraining from shaking his head instead of nodding it. He just wasn't used to this form of though, that the 'villian' might be, in a way, 'okay'. It would certainly take some getting used to. His mind trailed off to Nyxia. He was curious of what might be making her upset, and if he knew he would probably try to stop it. Yup, Alex was definatley Nyxia's #1 fan, that's for sure.

A small smile found it's way onto Grim's face. "Thanks Alex. It means alot." He was rarely trusted by anything; most things ran. "Nyxia is becoming more active my the day. She'll spread the word about me again of anyone asks; then again she might just pretend none of it ever happened." As much as it pained him to admit it; he still loved Nyxia. There was no doubt about the fact he didn't count her as the perfect person he had previously. Then again the irony was almost funny, when he thought about it; look who was talking!

"I'm grateful you to put a little faith in me; unlike Arrats and Montague and Gwenwyn." Not to mention Moldivere or any of the other darker creatures. The light hated him because he betrayed them and what was left of the ark hated him because he was seen as weak. Montague (Nyxia's closest companion) refused to speak to him; Gwenwyn caused him unbearable agony every time they met, he'd always feared The Seer, he hadn't yet run across her since the incident; though he feared her wrath above all others, save for that of Nyxia's.